 |
| PFC Martin Calianno served in the 27th Infantry Division in Saipan. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147505107/martin-a-calianno https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003123-00/sec5.htm |
Martin A. Calianno never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on December 23, 1919 in Ohio. His parents Angelo and Rosie were both born in Italy. They came to America in 1910. His father worked as a steel plant pipe fitter and later as a grocery store proprietor. Martin had five older sisters, one older brother, one younger brother, and one younger sister. By 1940 Martin had completed four years of high school and worked as a presser while living with his parents.
He was drafted into the army on November 24, 1941. He became a private first class in Company A, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The 27th ID was deployed in defensive positions in California right after the Pearl Harbor attack. In May 1942 it was sent to Hawaii to defend that location. It first saw action when it captured the Makin Atoll in November 1943. PFC Calianno was likely with his unit by this time.
The 27th ID played a major role in the attack on Saipan, landing on D+1, June 16, 1944. It was tough fighting taking on the center section of the attack and the 27th suffered more than 1,800 casualties in two weeks. There was no rest at night when the Japanese were most active with suicidal night patrols.
PFC Calianno was killed on July 12, 1944. By this point fighting on Saipan had officially ended for three days, but there were still pockets of Japanese soldiers who had not surrendered.
His grave is at Calvary Cemetery in Youngstown, Ohio.
KENNETH M. TAYLOR
On the same day that Martin Calianno was born, Kenneth Taylor was born in Oklahoma. A prelaw student at the University of Oklahoma, he joined the Army Air Corps and was trained to be a P-40 Tomahawk fighter pilot. He was assigned to the 47th Pursuit Squadron in Hawaii in June 1941.
On December 6, Lt. Taylor was out late at the officer's club with fellow pilot George Welch. They didn't make it to bed until 6:30 in the morning only to be awaken by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Taylor and Welch sped out to an airfield the Japanese had ignored and took off in P-40s to attack the enemy. They were the first American fighter pilots to shoot down Japanese planes in World War 2 and were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Their exploits were depicted in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora.
 |
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_M._Taylor |
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 co-pilot Heber Smith. You can read about Heber here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
No comments:
Post a Comment